With the ebook market heating up, today The eBook Store from Sony will provide access to more than a half-million public domain books from Google optimized for current models of the Reader. More info:

At Sony's eBook store (ebookstore.sony.com), a button on the front page leads to the books from Google, which people can transfer to their PRS-505 or PRS-700 Reader at no cost. The process is seamless for Reader owners who have an account at the store. Those new to the store will need to set up an account and download Sony's free eBook Library software. To start, people can access more than a half-million public domain books from Google, boosting the available titles from the eBook Store to more than 600,000.

?We have focused our efforts on offering an open platform and making it easy to find as much content as possible ? from our store or others ? whether that content is purchased, borrowed or free,? said Steve Haber, president of the Digital Reading Business Division at Sony Electronics. ?Working with Google, we can offer book lovers another avenue for free books while still providing a seamless experience from our store.?

Books from Google will feature an extensive list of traditional favorites, including ?The Awakening,? ?A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur?s Court,? and ?Black Beauty,? as well as a number of items that can be more difficult for people to access. For example, literature lovers can find and read The Letters of Jane Austen in addition to ?Sense and Sensibility? and ?Emma.? Also included are a number of titles in French, German, Italian, Spanish and other languages. People can search the full text of the collection, or they can browse by subject, author, or featured titles.

?We founded Google Book Search on the premise that anyone, anywhere, anytime should have the tools to explore the great works of history and culture?and not just when they happen to be at a computer,? said Adam Smith, product management director. ?We believe in an open platform for accessing and reading books, and we?re excited to partner with Sony to help bring these public domain books to more people.?